This anthology brings together for the first time leading essays and book chapters from theologians, philosophers, and scientists on their research relating to ethics, altruism, and love. Because the general consensus today is that scholarship in moral theory requires empirical research, the arguments of the leading scholars presented in this book will be particularly important to those examining issues in love, ethics, religion, and science.

Primary readings on love and altruism from the sciences are featured in the second half of the book. Here the focus is on anthropology, psychology, sociology, biology, and neurology, with material written by Daniel C. Batson, David Sloan Wilson, Robert Wright, Stephen G. Post, Robert Axelrod, Richard Dawkins, Holmes Rolston III, and other renowned scientists and philosophers.

"Virtually all people act—and often talk—as if they have some inkling about love. We speak about loving food, falling in love, loving God, feeling loved, and loving a type of music. We say that love hurts, love waits, love stinks, and love means never having to say you're sorry.We use the word and its derivatives in a wide variety of ways . . . . My own definition of love is this: To love is to act intentionally, in sympathetic response to others (including God), to promote well-being."—Thomas Jay Oord

Preface vii

Part I: Defining Love

1. The Core Meaning of “Love” / 3

Stephen G. Post

2. The Love Racket: Defining Love and Agape for the Love-and-Science Research Program / 10

Scientific and Medical Network, The—Winter 2008

04/01/2009

A remarkable book looking at altruism from scientific, philosophical and religious perspectives. This is particularly important in view of the public debate surrounding selfish genes and atheism… There is much food for thought in this exemplary volume, hailed by Stephen Post as a masterpiece.

This wide ranging reader begins by defining love in its various forms (there is a very interesting contrast between agape and eros). It then has sections on ancient and contemporary religious writings on love, the biology of altruism and manifestations of altruism in the social sciences. Each section contains a short introduction by the editor, together with notes and references. An important contribution to the emerging scholarship of love and altruism.

Theology Digest

06/15/2006

The editor is professor of philosophy and theology at Northwest Nazarene University. The first three sections provide material from religious traditions, theologians, and moral philosophers. Section one gives definitions of love, and section two presents ancient religious writing from various world scriptures and from Augustine, Aquinas, and Nygren. Section three examines contemporary religious writings: loyalty, human nature, ahimsa, incarnation, ethics, kenosis, and love in Islam. The next three sections describe scientific research on love. Section four has one chapter on the physics of altruism, and section six involves altruism in the social sciences. These last two section present studies from psychology, sociology, anthropology, neurology, socio-biology, and non-human primate studies. The editor provides a brief summary to begin each of the 32 chapters.